1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to telecommunications. In particular, the invention is directed to methods and apparatus for transmitting messages containing multimedia information or content between mobile station communication terminals.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of short messages for effecting communication between mobile stations of wireless telecommunication networks has become extremely common among wireless network subscribers over the past several years. Each such short message can have a maximum length of up to 160 characters. The transmission of short messages does not require that the mobile station be switched on since, if the mobile station cannot be reached at the time that the short message is sent, the message is saved to the short message service centre. The short message service centre retains the saved message for a period of several days and, when the mobile station to which the message has been directed is activated within the access range of the mobile network, the saved message is then transmitted to the activated mobile station. Such short messages may be transmitted either within the range or boundaries of the same cell or to other cells by means of the standard roaming features of mobile stations. Today these short messages are most typically, although not exclusively, transmitted in GSM (i.e. Global System for Mobile Communications) networks.
As is known, short messages may currently only be used for sending text-form, i.e. plaintext, messages. By virtue of the rapid development of technology, however, consumers will in the near future demand and be offered the ability to send and receive multimedia short messages consisting of a variety of different media components. But multimedia messages have not heretofore been standardized in any effective manner, so that whatever solutions are offered are likely to be operator and/or device-manufacturer specific. This will either in effect prevent the transmission of multimedia messages between the mobile stations of or serviced or supported by different system operators or manufacturers, or alternatively require the use of difficult and expensive implementations to enable such transmissions.
It is accordingly the desideratum of the present invention to provide methods and apparatus that eliminate, or at least significantly alleviate, the difficulties and drawbacks of the prior art, including those described hereinabove.
It is a particular object of the invention to provide a method and a system that enable the ready transmission of messages containing multimedia information or content between different telecommunication system operators or providers.
Broadly described, in the present invention a multimedia message is created and transmitted in a telecommunication network. The created multimedia message is sent from the first mobile station terminal, the sent message from the first terminal is further transmitted onward toward its ultimate destination (such as a second mobile station terminal), a notification informing of the multimedia message that has been sent is transmitted to the intended recipient second mobile station terminal, and the multimedia message is retrieved by and onto the second mobile station terminal device. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cmultimedia messagexe2x80x9d is intended to denote a message which advantageously consists of or includes a plurality of different media components or content, such as an image, voice, text and/or graphics.
More particularly, and in accordance with the invention, a multimedia message addressed to an intended recipient is sent from the first mobile station terminal of the initiating sender to a first multimedia message server (with which the first mobile station is at least then associated) using the mobile communication network. The sent multimedia message is received by and saved on the first multimedia message server in the mailbox of the sender. If necessary, address information of a second multimedia message server (with which the second mobile station terminal of the intended recipient is associated) is located or identified using a first address database associated with or accessible by the first multimedia message server. An e-mail message based on the saved multimedia message is then created, and the created e-mail message is transmitted from the first multimedia message server to the second multimedia message server using an IP (Internet Protocol) network. A multimedia message based on the received e-mail message is then created using the second multimedia message server and is saved on the second multimedia message server in the mailbox of the intended second mobile terminal recipient; if necessary, the address of the second terminal device can be located or identified using a second address database associated with or accessible by the second multimedia message server. A notification informing the intended recipient of the multimedia message that has been stored by the second multimedia message server is then sent from the second multimedia message server to the second terminal device using the mobile communication network. If necessaryxe2x80x94such as where the intended recipient of them message has no mailbox on the second multimedia message serverxe2x80x94the multimedia message may be created or stored in a mailbox of its own on the second multimedia message server. Multimedia message servers may be implemented as separate units, or integrated with already-existing network components, as for example short message servers. The invention may be applied, by way of illustration, to a digital mobile network such as a GSM network, and the IP network may for example be any telecommunication network that utilizes or supports the IP protocol, such as the public Internet network.
In one or more embodiments of the invention, the e-mail message based on the multimedia message content may be created by coding the multimedia message content into an e-mail message in MIME format, as for example so that the text portion of the content serves as the plaintext message body and other portions of the multimedia message content are sent as one or more attachments to the text portion. MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) format, as is well known, permits the combining and transmission of attachments to typically text-based e-mail messages.
In some embodiments of the invention, information that correlates the DNS (Domain Name Server) addresses and MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber ISDN) numbers of multimedia message servers of the network(s) is maintained in the first address database.
Similarly, information that correlates the MSISDN numbers and e-mail addresses of subscribers associated with or served by the second multimedia message server may be maintained in the second address database.
It is also contemplated that, in some embodiments of the invention, the multimedia message may be sent from the originating first mobile station terminal using a browser-type user interface that is incorporated or accessible in the terminal device of the initiating or sending subscriber. Such a browser-type user interface may advantageously been implemented using WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) technology.
The multimedia message may similarly be retrieved on the second mobile station terminal of the destination or receiving subscriber using a browser-type user interface incorporated or accessible in the second terminal device. This browser-type user interface may likewise be advantageously implemented using WAP technology.
In some embodiments of the invention, the e-mail to be transmitted is first encrypted, for which purpose any suitable encrypting device or application, and any convenient encryption scheme such as the well-known PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) system, may be used. The e-mail message may also be transmitted using SMTP (Simple Message Transfer Protocol).
It is further contemplated that, in some embodiments, a billing ticket based on the multimedia message may be generated.
As compared with prior art methods and systems, the present invention renders it advantageously possible to send multimedia messages between the systems and mobile stations and subscribers of different telecommunication system operators. Since the invention utilizes existing, well-known and widely-available e-mail practices, it is particularly easy to implement and to expand its use throughout and among telecommunication systems. Moreover, the inventive methods and apparatus can utilize the public Internet and thus do not require the design or construction of dedicated connections between the multiple multimedia message servers. The optional use of encryption further assures that information security is not endangered.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.